Christian Atsu’s whereabouts still unknown after Turkey earthquake, say club Hatayspor and agent

Former Newcastle winger Christian Atsu is still missing after an earthquake in Turkey, despite previous reports that he had been rescued from the rubble of a building.

There has been confusion and mixed reporting over Atsu’s whereabouts since the earthquake, which has killed over 11,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

However, Volkan Demirel, director at Atsu’s club Hatayspor, has now said the 31-year-old has still not been located.

“There is no information on his whereabouts yet, we don’t know where he is,” Demirel told Reuters.

“It’s not the case that he was pulled out or taken anywhere else.”

Atsu’s agent Nana Sechere has also said the footballer’s whereabouts are unknown.

“Following yesterday’s update from the club that, Christian had been pulled out alive, we are yet to confirm Christian’s whereabouts,” Sechere wrote on Twitter.

“As you can imagine, this continues to be a devastating time for his family and we are doing everything we can to locate Christian.

Sechere had said on Tuesday that club officials had told him Atsu had been “pulled out of the rubble alive”.

Atsu, who had spells with Newcastle, Chelsea, Everton and Bournemouth, joined Hatayspor in September.

He was caught in the earthquake hours after scoring an injury-time winner.

“Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here informed me that they wanted to confirm if Christian Atsu had been found and rescued, and sent to a medical centre,” she said.

“However, in all the confusion – which is understandable under the circumstances [as you are rescued you are put in an ambulance and sent to the hospital] – they are not sure yet which particular hospital or health facility he has been sent to.

“This morning again, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assured me they are working feverishly to find out which facility he was sent to and will get back to me as soon as possible because I have been on them that I need to go and see him.”